Living Well with Nature, November 2025
31 October 2025
Having not written this newsletter for a while, there is plenty of good news to report. The Foundation’s Nature and Wellbeing work is really starting to take shape, with new tenants on our farmland and exciting developments at some of our other green spaces.
We are finding the Hertfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy helpful in guiding our nature conservation work. One area on which we are focusing is Hillbrow Grassland, which we are extending to almost 25 acres. The current plan is to restore good quality chalk grassland, although the final decision will be made in the summer once a full botanical survey is complete.
As part of Letchworth Festival, we have arranged for local experts to lead three guided walks through the grasslands. They will take place on:
- Saturday 20 June, 3-4pm with a focus on archaeology
- Sunday 21 June, 3-4pm with a focus on butterflies and day-flying moths
- Tuesday 30 June, 5-6pm with a focus on botany
Please see the Festival Program for details, including a link to book tickets.
Our Woodland and Tree Officer, Matt, has been focusing on Wymondley Woods, where we are improving the woodland management and developing plans to improve the main pond, which is fed by a natural spring. He has also been working on small infrastructure projects across the green estate, installing bridges and gates, and improving carparks and a highway crossing point. All to allow better access to our natural spaces.
We are keen to capture the benefits of our work for all of nature, including human health and wellbeing. An initial step in helping people realise these benefits is to improve the quality of information on our green spaces. Work is continuing behind the scenes to relaunch our Living Well with Nature area on the Discover Letchworth website, and I hope to share more on this shortly.
In the meantime, we have engaged with a local artist to illustrate 8 information panels which will be installed at sites along or close to the Greenway. Together, these tell our farming and nature story. Each beautiful panel shares information about the underlying nature and wildlife of different areas along the Greenway. They also include a QR code, which you can scan on your mobile phone to find out more details, or access an audio version of the written information on the panel. I am excited to have the first panel ready for consultation and would like to invite all readers to view it and complete a short survey. The survey will close on Tuesday 12 May.
To make the Greenway and associated areas more accessible, we have also installed 5 new benches. These are made of recycled plastic and complement existing benches and picnic tables. One special bench has been dedicated to the memory of Steve Howells, who sadly passed away last year. Steve worked closely with the Foundation and with local community and volunteer groups on numerous nature and environment projects. The benches carry Age Friendly Hertfordshire plaques and are a short distance from common access points. We hope that they will provide a welcome rest and make visits to some of our most special areas more enjoyable.
The new benches can be found at:
- Hillbrow Grassland
- Croft Lane Orchard
- Top of the Willian Pond field
- East along the Greenway from Manor Farm
- North of Jackmans, just after the Greenway passes the Leisure Centre
We hope you enjoyed our latest Nature & Wellbeing update; you can read past updates below. Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date on the latest news from Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation.
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